Star Wars: Determination
by Toranih
Summary: This story references Knights of the Old Republic, but takes place seven thousand years later c. 3000 ABY . Carsacc, a "Smuggler of Ideas," finds he is being followed by a young woman determined to know his past. Reluctantly, he takes her to Korriban...
1. Smuggler

Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars; Lucas owns Star Wars. I'm just having fun writing this.

This story takes place some three thousand years after the Battle of Yavin (A.B.Y.). I'll try to stick with the known Star Wars history as much as I can, though there are parts that may differ. In some cases, you can credit it to the seven thousand years' difference from the Knights of the Old Republic game era. In others, it is my mistake or possibly not having read that history yet. Of course, what has happened since the Legacy of the Force books (Invincible) is what I try to portray here, in what I imagine _could _happen. I have not read the Legacy comic books involving Cade, so there may be some changes in plotline there. This is based more so on KotOR happenings, though. In the meantime, relax, buckle your crash webbing, and we'll jump into hyperspace. Destination: A long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…

**Smuggler**

"You're not a Jedi."

Carsacc turned his head from staring at his drink to face his accuser. She was small, petite. Still, she carried a burning look in her eyes that told him quite clearly she didn't approve of something. From the way she glowered at his shoulders, he suspected it was because he was wearing a Jedi robe unbuckled or kept– without respect.

"No I'm not," he answered simply, choosing to ignore her anger. "Not a Sith, either." He looked back down to nudge the Corellian ale, which so far remained full. It was an odd habit of his, to spend a few credits for a drink he never tasted.

"Then why do you wear that?" she demanded. He scowled; she would raise a scene if she wasn't careful, and he didn't want that. She looked plain enough in her simple green vest and light top, enough that it fit in perfectly with the crowd. Truth be told, he was surprised she had even recognized the outer garments he wore as Jedi.

"The Sith are all dead, no fear of being flayed alive for being mistaken as the enemy."

"And you wouldn't be mistaken for a Jedi?"

He smirked, thinking about his beard stubble and unkempt, dark brown hair. He looked as far from a Jedi as a rancor, and he carried no lightsaber. A beat-up blaster that he couldn't aim was it, barely visible. "Anyone who _would_ think that should get their eyes checked. I'm nothing more than a smuggler." He leaned back in his chair, hearing it creak and something splinter. Why was she being so persistent? And who was she, anyway?

"And what do you smuggle? Spice? Slaves?" The edge on her voice bordered on bitter anger. Did she blame him for a bad childhood past?

"That was outlawed long ago," he answered quietly. "No slaves. No spice. No knights to go and stop it, no lords to revive it again. That trade died along with the old masters."

"Then why do you wear a Jedi's robe? Who did you kill?" she asked suspiciously.

His jaw set sharply, and he clutched the handle of the drink. That was too close for comfort. "Careful, anger and passion are the traits of the Sith," he retorted.

"I'm not a Sith!" She snapped, raising a few glances from other cantina-goers. So that was a pressure point. He could use that. He looked up innocently.

"And are you Jedi?"

"No," she said quickly, not dropping the emotion that had backed into her voice. How like a pouty teenager, and she could be hardly more than twenty.

Carsacc pushed the chair back and stood, leaving the full mug on the table. "I am not a Jedi. I have no mythical powers, no way with the sword. I'm a smuggler; that's all." If only he could believe it, then maybe she would, too.

"What do you smuggle?"

He flinched. It was a bold question in that run-down place. But then he smiled curiously, turning to look at her. "Ideas. So tell me, what do _you_ believe? That there is no emotion? Or that peace is a lie?" He grinned, tapping his fingers to his forehead in a short nod. Then he turned his back to the girl, letting the wrinkled robe flutter in his wake. Behind him, he heard soft footsteps. Great. She was pursuing him.


	2. Bribes

**Bribes**

"They said that he didn't wear normal Sith Lord clothes." The girl who had been following Carsacc from the cantina to the space dock nearly bowled into him when he stopped abruptly. "He wore a Jedi robe. After he died, it was never found."

"And you think I took it." Carsacc folded his arms in front of him, staring straight ahead. Her questions were already beginning to tire him, and he was not a people person. When added to the dangerous crowd that was strolling through the open square, it made him both claustrophobic and a little worried. He had to get her out of there, or at least not asking questions.

"You're the only one crazy enough to wear it," she grumbled, her voice once more reminding him of a teenager. He pushed his way through a gap in the transport system.

"Look, you ask too many questions. I stay on the right side of the law as a transport pilot. I don't have the luck a Jedi or a Sith would have." That was true enough.

"But I do!" she protested, having apparently made her way through the system was well. He spun around sharply on heel. The girl tumbled into him and quickly pushed away, almost as if she didn't like being too close. Most people didn't. But more importantly, she looked like she wished she hadn't said it.

"Ah, the heart of the serpent," he smirked. "You think you have Force powers." Considering that the Force ran through most everyone, even in trace amounts, that wasn't a big deal. But the idea that she might be Force-sensitive…

"No," she pouted, crossing her arms across her chest. For a moment he thought she was going to stick her tongue out at him. "I just have good luck. I want to know more about the Jedi."

"Because you think you might be one." He couldn't help but grin. He had her there!

"No!"

He reveled in his newfound high-ground, then raised his right hand as if to give a solemn oath. "Don't worry, I won't tell them."

She made a disgusted face. "Like you would. You'd be in more danger than I…"

"There's where you're wrong." Now feeling that he wasn't in quite a tight spot, he dodged a couple Rodians and made for his shuttle. It gleamed beautifully in the dying light. "Those who might take offense would be proud of me for wearing a Jedi robe as it's meant to be- warm protection from the elements. I _am_ a poor man, after all; I'll take what I get." He smirked, knowing that she wouldn't believe that.

"I'll pay you," she said quietly.

"What?" He frowned, glancing over his shoulder.

"I don't have many credits, but maybe it'll be enough." She began digging through an inside pocket of her vest. "You're a smuggler of ideas, right? Maybe you have some idea about the Jedi."

Carsacc chuckled. "I stay on the right side of the law. I don't accept bribes."

"People on the right side accept bribes. The Jedi did. And besides," she pointed out, "It's not really a bribe when I'm asking you to teach me something."

"Well I'm not a Jedi, am I?" He glared at her and smacked a button on the side of his shuttle. It recognized his hand print, or at least his way of entry; with a whine, the exit ramp slowly declined. Once open, he hopped up and headed inside.

She huffed and followed him. "What will it take for you to tell me what you know?"

Carsacc shook his head and sighed. "What makes you think I know anything? And why are you following me?"

"There is no emotion? Peace is a lie?" She crossed her arms and tried to stare him down.

He wondered what it would take to get her out of his cargo hold. "Common sayings, anyone might know them."

"The Sith come in twos. The last Sith to die, the last Force-user to die, didn't have an apprentice."

"Technically he wasn't Sith." Carsacc ducked a low hanging pipe and sat down into the pilot chair. "He was Sith in principle but he used light side powers."

"The Sith believe the apprentice must kill the master. Whoever killed him became the new Sith Lord."

"In theory," he grunted, flicking the engine controls on. She knew what she was talking about. That could be a problem. "Now are you going to get off my ship or am I going to have to face charges of kidnapping?" He turned with a hard face to look at her. He could always drop her off at the nearest stable planet. Though, the nearest unstable planet was more tempting. He waited for her answer, not hoping for a good one.


	3. Lessons

**Lessons**

"It's not kidnapping if I come willingly." The girl sat herself down in the chair beside Carsacc and tightened the crash webbing.

Carsacc glanced at her, groaning inwardly. She still hadn't even said her name!

He switched the navigation controls on. "Maybe I'll make _you_ face charges of kidnapping," he muttered. Sighing, he looked at the overhead screen. A few pale blue blips darted across it from the space dock, but the route he needed to get off the planet was clear. "All systems go," he reported out of habit. The engine rumbled as it fired up.

She _had_ said she would pay him, he thought reluctantly. Well, maybe some good could come out of this, assuming she wasn't some sort of bounty hunter. Not that there was any _good _reason to put a bounty on his head. He wasn't some government official or anything.

"Twenty credits for the ride."

She glanced at him, surprised. "Where are you going?"

He smirked when she said nothing about the steep price. "To a planet once called Korriban." She didn't give a reaction, so he suspected that she didn't know its history. "Now it's a dead world where corporations have tried several times to mine—all unsuccessfully."

"Unsuccessfully?"

He smiled, leaning his head against the ripped headrest while he waited for the automated go signal to start blinking. "Unseen creatures attacked them, ghosts of an ancient world. Nothing lasts long there." Except evil Sith spirits waiting to devour unsuspecting Force-users whole. He decided it would be best not to add that part.

"So why are you going there?" the girl asked, sitting up frantically.

The go signal lit up. The automated system came to life with ancient beeps and whirs. The ship jolted, then righted itself, and lifted off safely. Carsacc kept his eye on the panel to the left, waiting for the hyperspace route he wanted to show up.

"You wanted knowledge, right? Ideas?"

"Well, yes." She bit her lip, seeming to contemplate how crazy she must be to have followed a man she didn't know. Good. She could use a bit of sense.

As the hyperspace route glowed in green, then red, he manually changed course from the predetermined route. A warning alarm sounded, but he dodged the incoming cargo ship without a problem. Still, it would take a few minutes to reach the coordinates he needed.

"Korriban was a Sith world a long time ago." Still was, but he didn't want to frighten her. The planet would do that on its own. "It's much older than the dead Republic you hear so frequently about. Perhaps you have heard of the Skywalkers?"

She nodded timidly.

"This was before them, many thousands of years before their time. The most powerful Sith Lords ruled on Korriban, as well as a planet known as Ziost. Once there were many holocrons, though most were destroyed or lost to language barriers," he admitted. "Yet if it is the Sith Lords you want to learn about, the best place to learn would be one of their first domains." She had never specified, but he had the feeling he could get her off his tail much faster this way.

He turned to glance at her as their shuttle passed the planet's atmosphere. "Ten credits for the ride. Ten for the intel. Another ten if you want a ride back." He waited for her reaction, keeping a straight face. Still, a light seemed to have sparked in his eyes from the knowledge of the planet's history.

She smiled. "Deal. Even the good can be corrupted."

He snorted and looked out into the field of stars. So much for sense. "See what you say about that when we land on Korriban."

The route turned blue on the hyperspace panel. He reached up and hit a button on the overhead bar. "Entering hyperspace now." Blue lines streaked across the window from the stars, and both passenger and pilot fell silent.


	4. Authority

**Authority**

"It's so quiet."

Carsacc lifted the edge of his Jedi robe and coughed into it, trying not to breath in the excess dust that plagued the ancient site at Korriban. Tall, broken statues towered above the two humans, spearing the crimson sky. Even the frequent dust storms had not managed to permanently bury the ancient tombs. Of course, the activity forty years ago had cleared some of the statues and temples for use farther down the valley. But that had not been here. Not in this valley where… where the Dark Lord of the Sith had passed before.

"Eh, the Jedi wouldn't have said that. They would have said something about dark powers and feelings of hatred that emanated from the planet's very core. Or something like that." He shrugged. He couldn't feel anything, but the place would have sent chills up anyone's spine, regardless of whether or not they were Force-sensitive.

The girl looked at him and blinked. "I thought you said…"

"Never mind." He waved her off, looking around. Where was it? The place she needed to see? He scowled. They had landed in a place he knew had once been excavated, long ago, but there were no signs of that now, other than the few statues too tall to be buried. The tips of the strangely marked, staggering pillars held silt and orange sand. In some places the dirt sloped down to open for the mouths of temple doors. He turned around. There it was. "That way," he pointed, motioning to an upward hill framed by a broken archway. He started towards it.

"Is that where…" The girl seemed unsure of what to say, or how to ask. He didn't answer. Instead he kept leading her up the long walk. She shivered.

"Your intuition or your 'luck?'" he asked quietly. He wasn't surprised by the shortness in his voice. Any sane person would feel fear here, even if they needed to hide it. Any _sane_ person wouldn't come to the Valley of the Sith Lords, though.

She glowered at him, then stopped when she noticed the lip of a cave. "Should we…"

"No!" He snapped, looking back forcefully. She jumped back as if a snake had struck at her. "No," he repeated. "It would be dangerous to enter there. As it is, it is dangerous enough that we are treading on several ancient paths. I suggest you follow me." He turned and continued coldly, squaring his shoulders, as he trudged up the steep, slick path. Bones of corpses jutted at odd angles from the dirt. He knew better than to investigate, though.

"Yes, Master," she grumbled.

"_Don't call me that!_" He snapped, spinning so fast that she nearly collided into him "This is not a place to joke about masters or powers," he hissed. "It is real enough here regardless that there are no true Sith or Jedi left in the world. If you don't understand that, turn back _now_." He kept his finger level with her nose, staring shortly at her.

She matched his eyes angrily, holding them for a moment. He noticed that her green eyes seemed deceptively rebellious, but she nodded. "I understand."

"Good." He stormed around, and without another word, he led her further up to the ancient Sith academy.


	5. Academy

**Academy**

"Remember, this place is an ancient trap, a center for training Sith. Look to that corridor. There are poisonous gas pipes hidden under certain tiles. If you are not careful they will take you and your breath away- permanently." Carsacc looked through the dim haze. Shafts of broken light fell onto various tiles that had been uprooted long ago, making the place an ominous reminder of what it served. "What's your name, anyway? In case I have to report your death." He turned and looked at the girl, trying to figure her age.

"Hsanya." Her eyes trailed the doors and halls of the academy endlessly, lost in the ruins around her. She ignored his last comment.

"Hsanya- alright then." He made his way up a long corridor and turned. Covered in thick dust he found a computer terminal that had not been seen in ages. He walked up to it and tried to interact with it, but to no avail. It was dead and broken, gone as the Sith had gone before it.

"No luck here. We'll have to look to the temples. Since I'm guessing you can't read the writings, I'm not sure anyone _can_, I'll just have to give you an idea of the Sith and who they were by what they created. But remember, this is much older than the Last Sith Lord. Compared to the stories and ideas here, he was weak. They would have likely killed him the first day here- if he even made it this far."

"Why was he so much weaker?" Hsanya asked.

Carsacc shrugged. "Numerous possibilities. The holocrons were broken; apprentices killed the masters before they had a chance to learn everything they could. War… Jedi." He laughed bitterly. "Or purges, ones intending to wipe out evil or to make it stronger, and instead prolonged it or destroyed it. Neither side ever had a true chance to reign in true, unlimited power."

"But what about the Skywalkers? You mentioned them."

Carsacc shook his head. "No. Even they did not lead to the fullest. Something always stood in their way: the Rebels, a Force-untouched species, desire for personal power or glory, or the fear that that power would lead to death and destruction. Very few ever came close to achieving what they desired – perfection, a balanced galaxy. But it finally happened. With the death of the Last Sith Lord, the Force finally did exactly what it meant to do. It found equilibrium. Everyone had the same amount, the same connection to the Force.

"The Jedi said that all life is connected to the Force. If the Force was destroyed, so too would life and the universe. It would cease to live, if anything at all." He looked around the room. A few rusted footlockers remained next to a crumbled stone bed. "Some records I found hinted that there was a Jedi who ceased to feel the Force or be connected to it, and that she had to fight something that consumed itself and the Force. It destroyed a planet. Beyond that, the records are hazy at best."

"So it was here?"

"What?"

"The Last Sith, he died here?"

Carsacc looked down disapprovingly at her. "You have a one track mind. A trait of both Jedi and Sith." Something that more easily led to the dark side, he thought grimly. As he turned and walked back to the great doors of the academy she quickly jumped back to avoid brushing into him. "Maybe you could survive the cave. If not, good riddance."

"That's certainly not very Jedi-like!" she protested, jogging after him.

He grinned, unable to suppress it. "Well take a look around you. This isn't a Jedi temple."

A growl behind them caught his attention, but he paused only briefly. It was better if they left as soon as possible. "We need to go. I've got my blaster, but it won't do much good against the creatures that have been bred here and fed on the hate. Come on." He quickly disappeared into the darkness of the tunnel that had allowed them in with Hsanya close behind him.


	6. Apparition

**Apparition**

"Shyrack Cave."

"What?" Hsanya tilted her head and looked at the older man.

Carsacc gestured to the dark entrance in front of them. They stood downhill from the old academy; they had passed the cave earlier. "That was the name of the cave. Remember the story about the Jedi whose connection to the Force was severed?"

She nodded.

"Well, it's said that she passed through here. I wouldn't be too worried about shyracks or mynocks anymore, but there are other, far older creatures to fear."

"Did the Jedi fear? Did the Sith fear?" The girl looked up innocently.

He nodded once. "Yes. The Jedi feared what would happen if the Sith took power, if they failed. They feared as any mortal would. The Sith feared loss of their power, the inevitable death by the apprentice's lightsaber. But enough of this. Your ten credits are almost up."

She curled her lip at him. "I have more."

"Good. Then we'll go into the cave. And if you're ready, perhaps farther."

"I'm ready!" She planted her hands on her hips indignantly.

He rubbed his ear. "Screamed like a true shyrack. Don't agree to something unless you know exactly what you're getting into. That has been the fault of both Jedi and Sith alike."

"And Republic?"

"And Republic," he confirmed

Carsacc led her into the caves, walking past forgotten streams and corpses petrified with age. Briefly he thought he saw the shine of what may have been a buried lightsaber hilt, but he ignored it. That wasn't part of his mission now, and the last thing he needed to do was give a potential enemy a weapon from an age that hardly seemed civilized.

Often he heard a low growl or whispers, and Hsanya constantly jumped when she heard something. He made no acknowledgement of it. Most of the whispers were relatively harmless as long as he didn't try to raid a corpse or use the Force, which he couldn't use anyway. But here, at the far edge of the cave where he could go no further, he would offer Hsanya the chance to make that threatening move.

"Why are we stopping?" she asked, standing a little ways behind the grizzled man.

He didn't say anything at first. At last he spoke, quietly, with the words harsher than he had intended. "This is a path that has been walked before, long, long ago. She came here, along with another. Here she was told that she had to walk through alone, if she was strong enough. As the records go, she was strong indeed, but it was a close call."

He turned to face the girl. "I myself have no desire to walk there. I probably shouldn't even have brought you here. But perhaps its power has faded in time. Perhaps not. If it is knowledge you seek, wisdom, this place will teach you far more than you want to know or that I have to tell you. It is of yourself."

She looked hesitantly at the mouth of the cave entrance. "There's something…"

"Dark forces. As strange as it is to say, if you have the Force, you must align to one side or the other here. If it is the light side you are strengthened by, enlightened, then you must pull from that power and that alone. You must care. If it is the dark side you find passion in, then you must draw everything from that power alone." He paused, recalling more than one script and ruin he had found. "If there was one saying I found in all my travels, my smuggling if you will, there was one quote that I found to shine the strongest with wisdom here."

"What was it?" she asked curiously.

"Will you go in the cave?"

"Why do you care?" she frowned.

He raised his eyebrow. "She said, 'Apathy is death.'" Carsacc turned and walked a little ways from the tomb doors. He felt relief, a weight lift off his shoulders. It didn't take a Force-sensitive to feel what lay in the cave.

"I'll do it."

He turned around, surprised. She had guts. It could get her killed. "I wouldn't advise it. You're not likely to come out alive, and I really don't want a death warrant on my head."

"I know I have the Force, and I want to know where I stand." She turned and stood in front of the doors, which opened automatically. Strange, it was a mechanism that still worked after many millennia. Perhaps it felt someone attuned to the Force, perhaps not. She strutted inside and the doors whizzed shut behind her, locking with a noisy clang.

He stared solemnly at the doors, not believing she had chosen to walk there. "You don't walk there, you crawl." He shook his head, sighing. She was on her own now; he couldn't follow. Whatever the outcome, it was by her means only.

He turned to leave, and came face to face with a full-body apparition. The apparition simply said, "Yuthura Ban."

"What?" he asked, shocked. It was a woman, garbed in old robes. She wore strange markings across her forehead and arms. He didn't recognize her.

The apparition shimmered with a blue glow. "Find reference to the twi'lek, one of the tombs may have an old holocron or graffiti. She is the one to look for. She spoke of what it is that you… you must know."

"Who… what are you?" he demanded.

"Apathy… might avoid death in this matter," the soft voice said sweetly, though its tone was not one to play with. "She has the answers."

"I have no intention of falling into the old heroic routine of struggling with inner voices," he said sharply, though he had no doubt that the woman before him had been Sith. They had a way of coming back in dangerous ways, he noticed.

"You don't have to. Don't forget the lightsaber." She smirked.

"I'm not touching it. I won't wake any more spirits of the dead!" He stormed past her.

"Don't worry, those that matter have already awoken." She chuckled loudly, and her image vanished in the wisp of a breeze that Carsacc had created.

He shook his head. He wouldn't touch the lightsaber. But he was a historian, a smuggler of ideas. Perhaps, just maybe, this twi'lek was worth researching.


	7. Sith'ari

**Sith'ari**

Carsacc stared harshly at the carved markings in the wall. He doubted that he would find reference to Yuthura within the temples, and he really didn't want to risk entering them. Instead, he had found entrance into another building, one he didn't recognize.

Strangely, the room seemed to be a cantina, or the broken remnants of one. The walls had faded and furniture cracked and in some cases crumbled completely. In front of him he found a single carving. It spelt out in modern letters, 'Yuthura Ban'. They were freshly carved, almost as if they had been written minutes before he arrived. There was no sign of age to them. He had no doubt that the woman who had spoken to him in the cave had something to do with this. The question was, had she been Jedi or Sith?

"Yuthura Ban," he muttered under his breath before turning around to walk the room. "What connection do you play in this?"

"She can't speak to you."

He twirled around to see the strangely marked entity standing in the light. "You again."

"I should have taken you back into the academy, but no matter, she was here, too."

"What do you want?" he folded his arms across the chest.

"Only to give you knowledge. You've been here before."

"Once," he said coldly.

"Uh-huh." She glided closer. "Before. When Lord Katashak was experimenting. You stuck your nose were it didn't belong."

"It was an accident," he growled, as she circled him curiously.

"Of course it was. But nevertheless, his eagerness to build the perfect being, as well as your curiosity, killed him: the Last Sith Lord. Curiosity killed the cat, and I do believe he had Cathar ancestry." She smirked. "Do you know what he was trying to create?"

Carsacc remained silent. There was nothing for him to say here.

"The Sith'ari. He wanted to become the perfect being. Not that he knew much about it, save for a holocron he found that Yuthura had saved over seven thousand years ago. It was surprising that she succeeded where others didn't. No one else knew it. Even Bane didn't find it. Katashak stumbled on it by accident."

"What does this have to do with me?"

"What? Everything. You know that the contraption he built, tried to build, caused the Force not to leave him to become part of everything, as the deaths of the other Jedi and Sith had. It all went to you."

"I have no powers," Carsacc said quietly.

"Wrong!" she snapped, her demeanor changing. "You have them; you simply cannot use them. They are locked away and require a key. But that key requires physical touch to access them. Hard to believe you somehow went for thirty years without touching a single entity with Force-sensitivity, at least not with bare skin. And it's not like they're hard to come by, considering that, thanks to Horshaka, everyone has an exact balance of it. But you-"

She pointed her finger angrily at him. "You went on excavations, toured the galaxy, kept away in tiny little cantinas. And people are afraid, most won't even listen to dreams that tell them they have Force powers, if only they'll use them, learn about them! Of all the creatures in the galaxy, only one I tested listened, and even she was hesitant."

Carsacc stiffened. "Hsanya. What does she know?"

"Nothing. Nothing more than what you told her. I led her to you, but beyond that she is ignorant- ignorant as a Jedi!"

He watched the Sith woman calmly. "That's impossible."

She looked startled. "What?"

"I had to have touched somebody, anybody. Perhaps when handing a credit off, or accepting a mug of Corellian Ale." He smiled quietly, thinking he had evaded her meaning.

She shook her head. "Sad. You have all that power and no desire to use it. That may change. But it is true. Something about you, perhaps the Force itself, made sure people stayed away. And you survived. Exile is always a strange thing, particularly to those with the Force."

"I don't have it," he said quietly. "No more than the next person."

She shook her head. "You are a fool. Lord Katashak's death gave you all of his powers, perhaps more, and yet you deny it. You are not worthy of the title of Sith Lord." She made an angry face at him before disappearing in the dim light.

"Good. I don't want it." He strode stiffly out of the fallen city.


	8. Return

**Return**

"You're back." Carsacc shoved his hands in his pockets and watched as Hsanya stormed up to him.

"You left me!" she protested before stopping in front of him with clenched fists.

"Not much I could do while you were off on an adventure of the self." He looked down at her, his shoulders hanging loosely. With luck he could convince her back onto the ship and they could leave. He could drop her off on the nearest outpost and he could return to his normal life.

"Yeah, about that." She thrust her hands on her hips and stuck her nose in the air so that she could stare him squarely in the eyes. "It was you."

"What'd I do?" he asked innocently, putting on a wounded face.

"Don't play with me!" She jabbed her finger into his chest, and he remembered what the woman had said. "You knew all along; you killed the Last Sith."

"It was an accident," he admitted, trying to walk around her. She grabbed his sleeve and held him there. If the woman was right, it was a good thing he had gloves on.

"Doesn't matter. That makes you the new Sith Lord by theory."

"Key word – theory. It doesn't make me anything. I stuck my nose where it didn't belong and the Sith got zapped. End of story."

She shook her head. "No, it's not. You got his power. They aren't all dead. _You_ aren't dead."

"No, they're not. Jedi and Sith are like Mandalorians… you try to weed them out, and they just pop back up in some other garden. Thing is, I'm not one of them."

"Yes you are. That's the only thing that makes sense. And I have power-"

"Of course you do. Everyone does. Since Horshaka turned everyone on the Jedi and Sith, and they were all killed, everyone has a minimal power in the Force. It finally spread out evenly and balanced itself. So everyone has it. It's just that some are a little more aware of it than others." He grimaced and turned to walk away, determined to leave the building and return to his ship.

"Who is Horshaka, anyway? How'd he get the power to turn-"

"No one knows, he was never seen." For a moment he heard indiscernible whispers rise around him. They seemed to be cursing Horshaka, giving Carsacc the shivers. He shook off the feeling. Ignoring the girl's further requests for information, he stomped down the pathway and out of the building.

"Return to the ship, we're leaving!" he commanded, yelling back to the girl as he slipped through the permanently open door.

"Where are you going?" she yelped as she ran to catch up.

_Who did she align with?_ He wondered silently as he took a detour. "Meet me on the ship. There's something I've got to get."


	9. Memory

**Memory**

"All systems green, engaging thrusters." Carsacc typed in the coordinates for the ship computer. "Lift-off."

The girl pouted next to him, staring angrily at the dead world as it fell below them. "You have the power," she said quietly.

"Without access to it, it's useless," he said, not looking at her. Soon they would be out of range from the planet's atmosphere, out of range of the Sith spirit. He glanced down through the viewer and noticed that several creatures had become visible on the surface. They were large and partially camouflaged, and each reminded him of the krayt dragon drawings he had seen on other worlds. He said nothing about it to Hsanya; he didn't need her to get started on the fabled creatures.

"How do you access it?"

"I don't know," he lied. It was true that he didn't know the details of it, but he knew the general idea.

"You're lying."

"What makes you say that?" he glanced at her, wondering whether she had guessed or if her potential Force-sensitivity had increased.

"I can tell," she said quietly, looking away.

"What did you see, in the cave?" he asked to change the subject.

She didn't answer for a time, and he wondered if she had come to the same conclusion as him. But she finally answered. "Bits of my past. Bits of the planet's past."

"What bits?"

Once more she hesitated. "Lord Katashak was lecturing on a tall platform. There were people below him, listening, but they were ghosts."

"His last speech." Carsacc averted his eyes to the view screen and gave the computer affirmation to jump into hyperspace. The star turned to streaks around him, and for a moment he could see the events playing out in those blurred lines.

"I couldn't tell what he was saying, it was a different language, I guess. Then he just stopped. It was like he had sensed something had just changed, and he seemed to be falling even as he stood still."

Carsacc swallowed hard, keeping his eyes ahead. He had to hear this, much as he didn't want to. He knew only vaguely what had happened. At the same time he could see the events in front of them. _He walked down a well-lit hall, hardly the type for a Sith Lord. Then he turned, and found a strangely marked door. He entered the encryption code into his datapad and spiked the computer. The door opened to a room of many computers._

"The Sith Lord fell to his knees, gasping for breath. The ghosts around him seemed surprised, disgruntled. They began to run to him, to attack him."

_He entered the room, astounded and surprised. When they had sent him, he hadn't expected to find this. He had meant to see the Sith and turn tail. He wasn't going to stick around. He wasn't going to be their assassin… not like he could expected to succeed, anyway._

"Then they all stopped. Everyone but Katashak looked up to the sky. A face had formed above them, large and invincible. I couldn't make out the details. It said, 'I win. There will be no more.' And the ghosts began to disappear wave after wave."

Carsacc could feel himself break out into a sweat, but he couldn't shake the memories. _He ran his hand along the cool consoles, and realized that there was a stairway that opened up on the other side of the center projection. He walked up it, and time seemed to slow down. There was a force field-like projection in front of it._

"The ghosts disappeared completely, and the face descended until a form stood beside the Sith Lord. It said 'The weak shall perish, and only the powerful, the perfect, shall rule.' And then the Last Sith Lord let out a roar and fell dead."

_He entered through the force field, but made it no farther. Something ripped through him, and he screamed. His vision blacked. _The memory ended. Carsacc fell back against his seat. "I never should have done that," he whispered. His face had paled and his hands felt clammy against the ship controls. He moved his hand away, unable to feel the computer without feeling sick.

"Done what?" she frowned, for the first time noticing his condition.

"Nothing," he grunted, shaking his head. He let the crash webbing on him loose and stood. He nearly fell to the ground but managed to catch the edge of his seat. "We'll be in hyperspace for a few hours. Wake me if there are complications." He staggered away down against the corridor wall.

"Wait, but…"

He didn't answer her, and instead fell into the medbay door. He managed to pick himself up and hit the button to lock the door before he dragged himself onto the bed. Sweating, he struggled to tug his gloves back on, then passed out.


	10. Alignment

**Alignment**

When Carsacc finally awoke, the sweat was gone and all he felt was tired. He pushed himself up, looking around the room. How long had he slept?

Then he remembered what had caused him to pass out and he looked down to the Jedi robe he wore. His eyes passed the wrinkled garb and he looked down at his hands, thinking how often he wore gloves. It was almost instinctual now, even when he was along. He reached into the robe and extracted a long, silver instrument, then laid it on the disturbed bed sheets.

He sat looking at the object, knowing full well that his smuggling had just fallen to the opposite side of the law. He could get away with parading a Jedi robe as if it were nothing. Lightsabers were another thing entirely. It was punishable by death, or worse. Just what was worse, he wasn't sure, but he had a feeling torture droids would be involved. Examples were often used in the galaxy he lived in.

The lightsaber design spiraled around the hilt, with a soft, black leather grip. The bottom of it had tiny decorative crystals studded on it, but Carsacc suspected they were used as Force enhancers.

He lifted it into his hand, feeling the lightweight object. He unscrewed the bottom and gently let the crystal slide out. The first was clear, and he suspected that it too was an enhancer. The second was deep red, deeper even than most he had seen. This was a Sith weapon, no doubt. He quickly slipped the two crystals back in and reattached the bottom piece.

He couldn't ignite the saber, since Hsanya would hear it. And then it would be dangerous for him to try to use it without help from the Force or very skilled training. It didn't look like the weapon had a typical stun setting. It was meant for a clean kill.

He set it aside and searched the medbay for a hidden compartment. He knew there had to be one around somewhere. Finally he found one, something he had not noticed before in the top light panel. Amused, he noted that the illegal stimulants he had found were probably over forty years old. He left them there, figuring he could dispose of them later, and slipped the lightsaber into the thin compartment. He refitted the panel over it and screwed it shut.

He jumped down from the bed and opened the door. To his surprise, Hsanya sat in front of it, looking as if she was trying to meditate. He tapped her on the shoulder, and she jumped with a yip. "Don't do that!" she protested.

He shrugged. "A Jedi's got to be aware of his, or her, surroundings." He maneuvered around her to get to the cockpit.

"Who said anything about Jedi?" she asked quietly.

He froze. Slowly he turned to face her, and he saw the cold look on her face. "You chose the Sith," he whispered.

She didn't answer.


	11. Revelation

**Revelation**

"You have the power."

"I think we've established that I don't," Carsacc said coldly, watching Hsanya closely. If she was Sith, he had to be careful. Even if she wasn't Sith, the spirit could have been tampering with her emotions.

"The coat then!"

He let out an exasperated sigh and tore the robe off before tossing it to her. "Nothing! It has nothing!"

She examined its folds for a moment, then looked up, confused. "Then something of his apprentice?"

Carsacc frowned. "Lord Katashak didn't have an apprentice."

"Of course he did, I saw him create her." She seemed confused that Carsacc didn't understand.

"_Create_ her? Wait a minute… you saw that in the cave?" He had a brief glimpse, a tiny memory of a face standing in the corner behind the force field. It was familiar, something he had seen less than a day before. This was getting much worse than he expected, so much worse.

"Yes," Hsanya nodded, hardly noticing the absurdity of what she was saying. "He wanted the perfect apprentice."

"The perfect…" Carsacc's eyes widened. "_Sith'ari_."

"What?"

"Sithspit!" he snapped, turning back to the cockpit and yanking the ship out of hyperspace. He input new directions.

"What are you doing?" Hsanya asked, standing behind him.

He turned and stared down at her. "We're going back." Without another word he pushed past her and reentered the medbay before shutting the door and locking it behind him. Hsanya's complaint was cut short as the door sealed shut.

He stepped on the bed with fierce determination and took the panel off the hidden compartment. He yanked the lightsaber from its hold, but gently sat it down and knelt on the bed. His plan might work; it might not. But perhaps there was enough residue from the Force left in the lightsaber that he could do what he intended.

For a moment he contemplated not going through with it. Yet now he had to, had to if he had any intention of getting rid of the power that the spirit said was locked inside of him. He pulled off his gloves and sat them to the side, then picked up the lightsaber. He gasped. It was as if something had punched him in the guts before enhancing his senses to everything. He blinked, gasping for air. The feeling passed, and he found that he had not let go of the lightsaber.

Carsacc closed his eyes and tried to clear his mind, though he knew he was succeeding very little. _I know what happened. I know what killed the Jedi, and the Sith. If you are out there, if you can be at Korriban where the Exile walked, and the one she followed, within five hours, please come. I know you have not felt me until now, and I can explain, but not at the moment. I apologize if the power is tainted dark. I cannot help where it came from and what it has touched. But know that Horshaka is there, ready to be confronted. Please come. I cannot face her… it, alone._


	12. Tell All

**Tell-All**

Carsacc stood at the edge his ship, listening for sounds on the quiet planet. All was dark, the very early morning of Korriban. The air was cool, and the dusty planet had a settled, pink quality about it. The statues that remained stood tall and foreboding, a reminder of the ancient Sith lords who had once come to the planet to rule or learn.

Hsanya followed behind him as he walked through the ancient excavation. She had said very little since he made his discovery, yet she seemed confused as to what he planned. She did eye the lightsaber now buckled to his side, and he noticed her obvious glances.

It was the cave that he planned to confront Horshaka in, but not the cave to the back. He would confront her near the entrance, where he had found the lightsaber– her lightsaber.

The closer he got to the cave, the more subtle whispers he began to hear. It was as if the ghosts that had fallen with Lord Katashak had come once more to the final battle, whether the winner be Horshaka, whatever her real name was, or Carsacc. There was no sign of the Jedi he had tried to call, and he doubted he could have succeeded. After all, he had no real training in the Force, and it was only residual patterns of the Force that had been left in the lightsaber that had allowed him to connect for the first time to the power locked away inside of him.

Once Carsacc stood before the entrance of Shyrack cave, he noticed that a tiny pale strip of pink light mounted over the horizon. It was fitting, perhaps, that the decision of what should happen would be made at daybreak, even when Korriban was a symbol of darkness.

They entered the cave, and he walked a little ways before coming to the open cavern. Fog rose up around the stone bridges that crossed the tomb, and he did not wish to know what lay underneath.

"You have come to claim your title?" An apparition formed on the other side of the bridge until the woman came to look as if she were truly alive. The only reminder was the pale glow around her and the occasional translucence as she moved.

"No." His voice echoed briefly then fell silent. "Unless you mean that of transport pilot." A flicker of a grin crossed his face, but it disappeared as quickly as it had come.

Horshaka frowned, her face creasing in wrinkles. If his idea was correct, it suddenly made sense as to why she did not physically look Sith beyond her unfamiliar markings. "You are being a fool." Two creatures suddenly appeared at her side, hissing angrily. She raised her arms in the air and they both fell back, no longer making threatening noises. "You have all the power of the former Sith Lord, yet you will not take it? Perhaps you could even transform it to the Jedi, if you so desired." She smirked.

He shook his head. "But that's not what you planned, is it? You intended to wipe out all Force-users, all but yourself."

"Is there not someone who could have been more worthy? I was engineered to be in perfect health, to be able to hide from those who would wish me harm, to be the next Sith Lord."

"But you got killed before you could succeed in your plans. You couldn't have been the next Sith Lord… the weak should be killed, no mercy, isn't that right?" His face remained rigid, watching her for any sign of attack.

She glared at him coldly, and the two creatures behind her circled angrily. "You don't believe those ideals."

"No. But you did. Do. But it's a bit hard, isn't it? For an android to take power." He waited to see her reaction. Was he right? Had Lord Katashak really managed to give an android access to the Force?

She seethed, making the same hissing noises as the monsters behind her. "Hard? It was pathetically easy! I had access to the tools, the machines, and I made my own androids. They did exactly as intended. They were sentient, but they could do as I chose. A little _suggestion_ to their programming, and they would believe that Jedi were manipulators, that Sith were simply mistaken, but had to be taken care of. They were able to reach into every asset of the Republic and take control. Some followed closer to what the true population wanted, and others acted as hated targets. Some stayed within the population to be valued 'neighbors.' Some changed the poll results, and soon the Republic was stripped to its bones and torn to pieces. They were in charge, and they had complete and total power."

"It wasn't all malicious, though. Even as they turned the public against Force-users, they also shut down galactic crime syndicates, reduced smuggling, and effectively disbanded slavery. No one but the slavers complained."

"There were hundreds of known Force-users, how did they do it?" Carsacc demanded. If what she said were true, then the problem was much larger than he had ever imagined.

"Records. When one is an android, it is so much simpler to delve deep into a computer or the holonetwork. I found _everything_ there. Any hint of extreme luck, a reputable Jedi, they could easily be identified and taken out. A sudden poisoning, an unexpected murder, suicide, or unexplained death could take care of those. Sometimes we alerted the Sith of their presence, then turned them against each other. Easy."

"How did you die?" he asked coldly.

"An accident, really," she growled, though she didn't seem at all approving of the memory. "I had tagged a droid to attack Sith powers, and naturally he had to have some Force-sensitivity himself. Most I produced without such a power, but others I manufactured in my own image. He felt my power, and attacked me. I should have been more aware. But I was able to save myself."

"Literally or figuratively?"

She glared at him. "I used the Force to keep myself here on Korriban, but I was trapped. Even so I did manage to literally save some of my programming to a holoimage in the mainframe computer."

"What I saw behind the force field. You intended to kill Katashak all along."

"The apprentice must kill the master," she added matter-of-factly. Hsanya shifted uncomfortably behind Carsacc, and he glanced behind him. It wouldn't due for Hsanya to decide he was a target.

"I was given a message, a note from the government asking me to take out Lord Katashak." Realization came over him, and he looked at her, stunned. "You were behind those messages. You planned it all. You knew I would try to turn tail and run."

"But you would never have that chance. You would be too curious, and you would investigate." She grinned, seemingly over her ingenuity.

"I knew it felt too easy. How could I have gotten in without notice?"

"You weren't that good. I made sure to divert everyone and to let you through locked doors regardless of whether your spike worked or not. And so you came to the mainframe."

"What was it? That force field…"

"It was part of Lord Katashak's dream. He wanted to become the perfect being, the Sith'ari. He never had a chance. But he did create a machine, a strange thing, capable of channeling Force powers. That's how he gave Force-sensitivity to me. Just enough organic material with the cybernetic passageways, a bit of genetic material from the species who hated machines and created everything organic, the perfect irony, and he had created a being who could hide in the Force, feel and use the Force, and yet be almost perfect.

"He came very close, perhaps, to being able to change the directions of the Force, from creating a weapon that could transfer power from one individual to another. But he was stupid, and he hooked the end device to himself before he should have. Whatever complex organic energy tried to pass through the force field would receive the energy. It was supposed to be him. No one was supposed to be able to enter the central computer station."

She grinned, savoring the memory. Carsacc watched her, repulsed. "But I got in. I walked through it instead of him."

"Yes, you did. It was perfect. You received the power and passed out. But you survived. He died by my plan, yet it wasn't from loss of the Force itself, it was from the shock. He was arrogant to think he could have received greater power."

"But what happened after that?"

"You!" she spat. "You survived, as I had hoped. I had meant to train you as a Sith and take you for an apprentice. "But you refused to accept it; you were too strongly aligned against the use of power. I could not train you. So I wiped your memory of me and set you back on your shuttle, hoping that you would one day return with a little beckoning, to be ready to accept the title."

"Hsanya."

"Yes. I gave her dreams, and she came. But if you will not accept the gift, then you are not worthy to be called Sith. You will die!" She shouted in what Carsacc briefly thought of as overused phrasing. She let out a short, blood-curdling scream, and the two creatures leaped forward for the bridge.

Without warning they flew off and into the fog below, an echoing scream following them. Three lightsabers hummed to life behind Carsacc. He spun around, thinking that Sith had surrounded him, but found something quite different.

"Not so fast, Horshaka. You must stand justice for what you did to the Republic and the people who died by your hand."

Behind him stood three Jedi.


	13. Final Battle

**Final Battle**

"Most did not die by my hand, only my suggestion," Horshaka growled, glaring at the three Jedi.

"It's the same thing!" One of them shouted at her.

"But you will!" She raised her hands, and suddenly the Jedi were frozen in place, unable to move. "This is between me and him alone!" Electricity crackled at her fingertips. Carsacc had no doubt that she could throw Sith lightning to where he stood.

"Hey! You tricked me!" Hsanya yelled, charging forward.

"No, wait!" Carsacc reached out to stop her, but Horshaka sent the girl flying. She hit the wall and crumpled to the floor, unconscious.

"Now it really is just us." Horshaka cackled wickedly.

"Old Jedi tradition would dictate that I give you the chance to redeem yourself," Carsacc told her, backing to where Hsanya had fallen. Maybe he could distract the Sith lady long enough… He checked Hsanya's pulse; she was still alive.

The Sith laughed bitterly. "And do you think I care about something such as redemption? That is for the weak, for those who are indecisive about the path they have chosen."

"I'll take that as a no." Carsacc pulled his gloves off and set them aside. He slipped the lightsaber off of his belt, knowing that he would get the sudden impact he had on the ship. The impact of sudden awareness hit him again, though not as hard as it had before. "I'm sorry you feel that way," he muttered, trying to calm himself. He looked up.

"Ignite your lightsaber. Even with it you will not be able to defeat me."

He started to stand, then stopped. Something was nagging at him, a feeling that while all life was connected, that Horshaka was more closely connected to her old lightsaber, to _mechanics_. Perhaps it was fitting, seeing as how she was first an android. And then he realized that the feeling he had might have been the instinct, the message from the Force that he had read so often about in the ancient scrolls and tombs.

He switched the lightsaber to his left hand and laid his right hand over Hsanya's.

"What are you doing?" Horshaka growled, her stance attentive. "I thought you were right-handed. At least you were when I tried to teach to fight so long ago." She grinned.

"I don't require my writing hand to do what I mean to," he muttered to himself, closing his eyes. He could feel relative shapes, though everything was murky from what his eyesight would have shown him. But he needed to use the Force if what he was to do would work.

Slowly the lightsaber lifted from his hand, and he broke into a sweat. If it wasn't that the power had already been fine-tuned by Lord Katashak, he knew that he would never have been able to move it in time.

He could feel Horshaka's confusion as the lightsaber moved surely over the bridge. Now he would know if his hunch was correct, and if he could create a force shield.

The lightsaber blade ignited. It glowed a horrifying red, shining brightly. Horshaka suddenly let out a feeling of horror. He sent out a pulse of energy and dropped his connection to the lightsaber. Instead he bent all his will and thought on trying to erect a Force shield. The lightsaber exploded in a blast of light and thunder and heat as the power of the Force overwhelmed its circuits. The explosion battered the wall of the Force that had been created, and Carsacc nearly tumbled aside from the deafening noise.

Horshaka shrieked, and then suddenly he no longer felt her. The moment lasted a little while longer, and then everything felt deathly silent.

Carsacc opened his eyes. The three Jedi had fallen to the floor, but they were starting to move. Hsanya mumbled and started to rub her head, cringing at the bruises she had suffered. He moved his hand off hers, and the room seemed stiller than it had before the blast. He looked around.

Horshaka was gone, as were the whispers he heard in the cavern before.


	14. Ending

**Ending**

"Thank you for protecting us." The dark-skinned human Jedi reached his hand out to help Carsacc stand.

Carsacc shook his head and pushed himself up. "I'll get another slap from the Force if I touch you." He put his gloves on. "I'm sorry; I shouldn't have called you."

"No, you were right." The man smiled genuinely. "It is not a good idea to go at something like this alone. You should train as a Jedi; you can wield the Force effectively."

"No thanks, the only reason I was able to do that was because it was Katashak's power. I don't intend on keeping it."

"You mean to get rid of it? Surely that would kill you, as it did Katashak." The Jedi frowned, looking at him with dark, wondering eyes.

Carsacc shook his head. "You've lived with it all your life. I've lived with the knowledge that it was there for the better part of my forty-some years. But only in the past two days did I ever feel it or have a connection to it. It will not hurt me to sever my ties to it. It is possible to lose ties to the Force and be a powerful Jedi, or Sith. It will be possible for someone who is not. I do not want it, anyway."

He realized Hsanya was trying to get up, and he reached out to help her. "What happened?" she mumbled, rubbing her sore head.

"I destroyed Horshaka's lightsaber so that it would sever her connection to the Force. It turns out that was the only thing keeping her here, a simple object. I guess that's the problem of being an android for a Sith."

"So she's gone?"

Carsacc looked to the Jedi. "Is she?"

The Twi'lek nodded, his two head-tails twitching around his neck. "Yes. I don't think we'll be seeing her again."

Carsacc nodded, glad the Twi'lek spoke Basic. He didn't think he could translate another language at the moment, and his understanding of the Twi'lek's language was rusty.

"How do you mean to sever your ties?" the female Jedi asked, a species he didn't immediately recognize.

He looked down at the floor. "I'm not really sure. All I know is that it's been done."

"One has walked here before. She has done it," the female spoke. She looked knowingly toward the cave.

"Yes. I think that mine shall be more like releasing a spirit rather than cutting a bond. Hsanya?" he looked to the girl, and took off his gloves again. He knelt beside the bridge.

"Yes?" she asked, confused.

"Will you help me? I need someone to open my connection to the Force once again, so that I can release it." He didn't know if she would agree or not, but he had to ask.

She looked at the Jedi timidly, but when the female Jedi nodded, she knelt in front of Carsacc. "What do you need me to do?"

"Hold out your hands." He said, acting on instinct. She did, and he took them in his, feeling the sudden awareness hit him for the last time. Hsanya seemed surprised, too, and nearly pulled her hands away.

"Once you do this, it cannot be undone," the human Jedi warned.

"I understand." Carsacc closed his eyes, feeling the subtle shifts in the universe that very few ever felt. "I release you," he whispered, so soft that even Hsanya heard only a whisper.

It took a moment, and then Carsacc felt the awareness fading away, much softer than the instant changes his previous experiences had been. The Jedi behind him stirred, and Hsanya cocked her head.

It seemed to him that he heard "Thank you" growled back, and then the awareness was gone. He opened his eyes and withdrew his hands.

"It is done," the female said, then scratched her furry nose.

He sighed and stood. "Very well then. I guess I should leave you three alone."

"But I…" Hsanya frowned, looking confused. "It's as if…"

"A new world opened up to you, didn't it?" the Twi'lek asked. He looked at Carsacc. "Though I sensed the Force leave you, I also felt a slight increase in power in Hsanya."

"It went to her?" Carsacc frowned.

"Only some of it. It seemed… a thank you gesture. Perhaps for her bravery in attacking Horshaka. After all, Katashak was a Sith Lord. He might have seen potential in her."

"You'll have to be careful of such power. It is likely that it has a stronger affinity to the dark side."

"She'll need a trainer," the female suggested, looking at the human Jedi.

"Maria…" he paused, looking at the Jedi and then to Hsanya. He sighed. "We'll have to create a new order… again, won't we?" She nodded. "Alright then, if it is alright with…" he seemed to realize that he did not know Carsacc's name.

"Carsacc," he filled in.

"Carsacc and his daughter."

"I'm not his daughter!" Hsanya protested at the same time that Carsacc protested, "She's not my daughter!"

Maria giggled. "I think you missed that part, Jarstan."

He glared at her. "Fine then. Is it alright?"

"I've got no say," Carsacc pointed out. "It's up to her."

She looked at him, almost as if questioning him. "I'd like to learn," she said quietly.

"Good then, we'll see to it. Since you expressed an interest in it, Maria, you shall be her master." Maria smiled, looking at Hsanya hopefully. "I will keep an eye on her as will J'umyaka." He gestured to the Twi'lek, who nodded his head.

"Glad that's settled," Carsacc crossed his arms.

"Now there's the matter of telling people what happened with the government…"

"No," Carsacc said softly. "If we told them, then there would be an all-out droid massacre. Think how far that would set us back. And as Horshaka pointed out, not all the things they did were bad."

"What about the Jedi killings?" Jarstan frowned.

Carsacc grinned mischievously. "We make a 'suggestion' that they start seeing Force-users as potentially helpful or otherwise just normal people. Relatively harmless. I can write the code, if need be."

"You want to write a virus?" J'umyaka grinned, showing pointed teeth. "I like the sound of that.

Jarstan glanced between the two and sighed. "We might as well try it, unless you can think of something else. For now at least," he added sternly. Maria shook her head, and Carsacc finally realized that she might be a Bothan. When he looked at Hsanya, she full-out waved away the notion of any other idea. "Alright then, it's settled."

"Good. We can get on with our daily lives then," Carsacc nodded.

"Come with us," Jarstan motioned to Hsanya and walked out down the caver. The other two remaining Jedi followed.

Hsanya held back for a minute and looked at Carsacc. "Why didn't you mention that I'd aligned with the Sith?"

"Well, there's always redemption, at least in a Jedi's eyes. I figured they'd figure that out in time. Besides, a galaxy needs its Darth Trayus."

"What?" she frowned, confused.

He shook his head and sighed. There wasn't enough time to explain the whole history of the cave and beyond. "Nevermind."

Hsanya gave him a last, curious glance before running along.

"You can't hide forever," a voice whispered in the cave, barely audible.

"Wanna bet?" Carsacc smirked, then walked away, alone again.

_The End- For Now..._


End file.
